Community & Business
22 September, 2024
Big push to repair TRC roads
MORE than 50km of gravel roads have been graded and 400 tonnes of pothole mix applied to Tablelands Regional Council’s roads over the past few weeks.
Mayor Rod Marti said he was pleased with the progress being made to repair local roads and revealed that contractors had been called in to help council crews cope with the works.
“Since the weather gave us a reprieve a few weeks ago we’ve graded more than 50km of gravel roads and our pothole crews have been able to move from temporary to more permanent repairs and have applied nearly 400 tonnes of pothole mix,” he said.
“We’ve also employed external grading contractors to help with the backlog of jobs.
“All of this work comes on the back of around $10 million for road restoration across the region, and work commencing on 4km of repairs on Cashmere-Kirrama Road around the Big Swamp area.
“The sealing of the final section of Ootann Road in the TRC region has commenced and should be complete by the end of this year.”
Mayor Marti said council’s asphalt overlay and bitumen reseal programs were due to commence in October and should be finalised in December.
“We’ll also replace several bridges and culverts this financial year on various roads across the region,” he said.
Mayor Marti appealed to the public to be patient as council progressed repairs on its road network.
“We understand people’s frustrations at the conditions of the roads but the wet weather has hampered our ability to conduct quality repairs while also continuing to negatively affect the road conditions,” he said.
“We have more than 1000km of unsealed roads and we are working through our systematic program to grade them, starting in the drier parts of the region and working towards the wetter areas as the weather improves.
“That being said, if a road is particularly bad, we’ll prioritise it outside this systematic program.
“We can’t grade wet roads and they have to be fully dry before any work is done on them otherwise we’re doing more damage than good.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we catch up on the backlog of repairs.”
Mayor Marti asked road users to be aware of work crews and heed instructions and safety signs.”
The public can report road issues by calling 1300 362 242, emailing to info@trc.qld.gov.au or by going to www.trc.qld.gov.au/request-a-service.
Reports can also be made at council’s customer service centres in Atherton, Herberton, Malanda and Ravenshoe.
For information on roads that are subject of works, go to www.trc.qld.gov.au/projects.
